Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson’s final road trip to his alma mater did not go according to plan. His Irish extended their losing streak to five games this weekend with a winless excursion to East Lansing, Michigan.
The Irish dropped 8-3 and 4-3 decisions to No. 4 Michigan State, bringing their record to 5-7-0. With the sweep, the Spartans stand alone in first place of the Big Ten conference. The Spartans, winners of seven games straight, are a perfect 4-0-0 in conference play.
Friday: Michigan State 8, Notre Dame 3
For the sixth straight Friday, Notre Dame grabbed the first goal of the series. Sophomore forward Danny Nelson gave the Irish a lead just 1:09 into the contest with a netfront tip on junior defenseman Michael Mastrodomenico’s point shot. The Spartans settled in anyway, and junior forward Tiernan Shoudy tied the game with 13:45 gone in the first.
What came next would be a harbinger of bad things to come for Notre Dame. Just 1:04 later, senior forward Red Savage squeaked a short-handed goal through Notre Dame junior goaltender Owen Say’s five-hole to put the Spartans ahead. Savage’s was the first of five total goals within 90 seconds or less of a previous goal the Spartans would score over the course of the series, repeatedly deflating Notre Dame’s momentum.
When Nelson again scored to tie the game for the Irish early in the second period, Spartan junior forward Joey Larson scored 55 seconds later to make it 3-2. When Mastrodomenico tied the game at three, Michigan State junior forward Charlie Stramel answered off a face-off within 12 seconds. Then, 90 seconds later, junior forward Karsen Dorwart doubled the lead.
Ahead 5-3 entering the third, Michigan State had stumped Notre Dame’s momentum. It did not help the Irish that, for the first time this season, Say was vividly mortal. He would go on to allow two more goals — including another by Dorwart and freshman forward Mikey DeAngelo’s first career goal — before being pulled with 10:26 remaining in the game.
Junior goaltender Jack Williams played out the remainder of the game, allowing one final garbage-time goal to senior defenseman David Gucciardi. Williams made eight saves on nine shots. Say made 25 saves on 32 shots. Neither goaltender was helped by the fact the Notre Dame defense allowed 40-plus shots for the fourth time in their last six games up to that point.
Saturday: Michigan State 4, Notre Dame 3
Jackson made a goaltender switch Saturday, giving freshman Nicholas Kempf the start for the first time since a 5-2 loss to Long Island on Oct. 26. Jackson had been intending to give Kempf some playing time entering the series, but had his decision confirmed Friday night. Despite the shakeup in the crease, Notre Dame couldn’t buck the trend.
Freshman forward Shane Vansaghi gave Michigan State a 1-0 at 11:45 of the first, but Notre Dame worked to get back into the game. Graduate forward Blake Biondi capitalized by tipping home a point shot from sophomore forward Paul Fischer to tie the game with 21.5 seconds remaining in the first.
But Michigan State continued to haunt Notre Dame’s hopes for momentum. The Spartans struck again 20.9 seconds after Biondi’s goal. Junior defenseman Matt Basgall beat Kempf and the clock to put the Spartans up 2-1 with just six tenths of a second remaining in the first. On the other side of the intermission, Michigan State scored in quick succession again, as Gavin O’Connell doubled the Spartan lead 1:14 into the second.
Graduate forward Ian Murphy notched his second of the year to pull the Irish back to within one at 7:08, and the Irish built momentum over the last half of the second period in an attempt to tie the game. But junior forward Daniel Russell’s goal with less than two minutes remaining in the frame again gave the Spartans cushion. It would eventually stand up as the game winner. Notre Dame junior defenseman Axel Kumlin scored with 90 seconds left in the game and the extra attacker on, but Notre Dame could not register any more opportunities.
Of Notre Dame’s six goals in the series, four came off netfront deflections. Perhaps that is a starting point for Notre Dame’s offense, which is currently scoring at a 2.67 goals per game pace, short of their target three goals per.
The Irish return home after a winless two weeks in Michigan to face No. 3 Minnesota this weekend. The puck drops at 7 p.m. on Friday and 6 p.m. on Saturday at Compton Family Ice Arena.
